The family, that was enjoying a day out with their one-year-old in his newly-built sandpit, ended up rushing the toddler to Fourways Life Hospital after noticing him eat a mushroom. It was later identified as an Amanita phalloides, popularly known as the death cap mushroom.
Jeanne Matthis, the boy’s mom said, “We were outside playing in the sandpit when I noticed that he had something in his mouth.” She and her husband immediately contacted the Tygerberg Poison Centre, which requested images of the mushroom. After identifying the mushroom as poisonous, the Matthis family was advised to immediately take the child to hospital.
Upon arrival at Fourways Life Hospital, the child was given four doses of activated charcoal to absorb the poison, as well as a series of blood tests until he was given the clear a couple of days later.
